


10 Meetings Between Sam Winchester and Gabriel Novak

by rosarycrown



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 5.5k words, Highschool AU, M/M, focus is sabriel with a side of destiel, this is just cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-10
Updated: 2013-06-10
Packaged: 2017-12-14 12:19:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/836795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosarycrown/pseuds/rosarycrown
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam meets his brother's best friend's brother, Gabriel.</p>
<p>It only takes a little time to fall in love, doesn't it?<br/>[[highschool verse]]</p>
            </blockquote>





	10 Meetings Between Sam Winchester and Gabriel Novak

**Author's Note:**

> this was written for my friends bday (pug!!!) and its the longest thing ive ever written  
> u v u

The first time they met, it was because Cas had to stop by his house before coming over to spend the night. Dean was taking them both home from school – Sam’s club having been cancelled and Castiel having decided during the day, at some point, that he and Dean were going to marathon some new show he was obsessed with.

And because this was unexpected, that meant Castiel needed to get his clothes (at least, he did now – they didn’t bother to until a kid at school had noticed Cas showed up to school in Dean’s clothes every once in a while and came to the brilliant conclusion that they were having sex. Which wasn’t true, not yet. But it was going to happen. Sam could feel it in his bones.), and for some reason, he invited both brothers in.

Sam didn’t want to be rude, not to Dean’s going-to-be-his-boyfriend-one-day, and so he came in with Dean.

Only to have water fall all over his head.

Very, very cold water.

“Oh – holy fuck, Dean-o’s gotta’ a really tall brother! Not who I was expecting to hit but, hey, I’ll take it!”

“Gabriel!”

Sputtering and shivering, Sam gasped and shook, barely managing to open his eyes without water dripping down his bangs and back into his face. It was cold – really cold, way too fucking cold, and Dean’s voice was torn between accusatory and amused.

“Gabe, way to make an impression, shit.”

“It was supposed to hit you, if that helps at all.”

“Gabriel, why were you trying to get anyone wet?!”

“Weeeeeeeeeeell –“

“Actually, no, don’t answer that. Sam, do you want a hoodie? I can grab something of Michael’s, it might fit you.”

When his eyes finally blinked open and weren’t covered in water, he was greeted by the sight of a hovering, concerned Castiel, a snickering Dean, and one unfamiliar, short blonde boy in the most atrociously colored tank top he’d ever seen.

“I- I think I’m good.” He stuttered out, letting go a huge breath and trying to stop the twitch in his eye. “So I take it the shortie’s Gabriel?”

“Wh- Hey! I’m not short, you’re just huge –“ The blonde protested – Gabriel – trying to raise himself up to seem a little taller. The guy was kind of stocky, hair pushed back for the most part, save for a singular strand that was falling into his face. The tank top gave the impression of an artistic douchebag and he had to be too old to be in high school, considering Sam had never seen him around in the halls.

If he was Cas’ older brother, that was pretty reasonable – Cas and Dean were juniors, and if any of Cas’ siblings were older, they’d have to be a senior or college age.

“No, I’m pretty sure you’re just tiny. I mean, look at Cas – he’s taller than you, and younger.”

A stifled snicker, this time from Castiel.

“Why you –“

“Sam, come upstairs with me, would you? I can get you a towel before I grab a change of clothes for tomorrow.”

“Yeah, thanks Cas. I think I will.” Sam replied, grinning at Gabriel and instantly hopping up the steps after the dark haired teen, feeling positively triumphant sort of joy at the frustrated sound of disbelief from Gabriel.

When he came back down the stairs, Castiel and his bookbag (now filled with clothes and DVDs) in tow, Gabriel had disappeared back into the depths of the Novak house, and Dean was waving them both back to the impala, eager to hang out with Castiel for the afternoon and night.

Sam shrugged and fell into step behind his brother and his brother’s not-lover, slipping into the impala and hoping Dean didn’t throw a fit over the impala’s seats getting wet.

****************************

The second time Sam ran into Gabriel, he didn’t really talk to him.

He had just gone for a walk in the park, hoping to get away from Dean and Castiel who were “not cuddling” on the couch. The History channel was Cas’ poison today, and Dean would watch nearly anything when Cas was on the couch with him – and he was all the more willing when the program was talking about knights and the Arthurian tales (which he swore he didn’t like but totally, totally did). And when Cas got sleepy and started leaning, Dean’s arms had wrapped around him, and Sam had hightailed it out of the house.

So Sam walked.

The park was always pretty quiet during the fall, when parents were stuck at home with sullen kids and the dogs were left to bark at the school buses. A couple of the skaters would try to keep active every once in a while, but they were few and far between, leaving the park peaceful and always a good place to read.

He had a certain tree he liked to sit under where no one else could see him but he could see them, and when he settled into the little nook of it, brightly colored, way-too-tight-for-a-guy jeans caught his eye.

The guy was running around with a small dog, wearing a too big shirt and wow those pants were really tight – shit, blonde hair, chasing a dog.

The guy was a little bit familiar, like Sam had maybe seen him once, but didn’t really know him. He was cute, clearly enthusiastic about chasing the dog around (it looked like the dog had a ball in his mouth, but it was hard to tell, the little guy was running around so fucking fast), grinning and laughing.

This went on for nearly 20 minutes, with Sam’s reading progressing in a spectacularly slow manner, before he heard a creepily familiar voice yelling out from the other side of the park.

“Gabriel! Michael wants you to be back for dinner.”

Castiel – that was Castiel’s voice, so he must’ve been forced to go back home.

“One last fetch, man? Rex is having a ton of fun.” Came the answer from who could’ve only been Gabriel. He looked a lot nicer when he wasn’t dumping water on an innocent dude’s head, he had to admit.

“Michael really wants to have dinner with all of us.” Castiel replied, sighing loudly and walking over to Gabriel. He was rubbing at his eyes – he probably fell asleep on the couch (read as: on Dean), and Cas seriously hated being woken up.

“Yeah, Yeah.” The older Novak shrugged, whistling. “Yo, Rex, C’mon!”

The dog ran back over, tail wagging happily as he shifted his focus to Castiel. The dog was cute (maybe a Corgi?) and panting loudly, breath making puffs of steam in the chilling air.

“Did Michael call you away from Dean’s?”

“Yeah. He’s decided that I shouldn’t ‘spend every single day over at the Winchester’s feeding my television and Dean addiction’.” He said, rolling his eyes and air quoting Michael’s words.

“I would argue that you’re addicted to Dean.” Gabriel countered, hands slipping into the pockets of the too-tight pants and posture lazily slouching. “Did you fall asleep on him again?”

Awkward silence, a quick shuffle.

“Awwwww, you totally did! That’s adorable –“

“Mention this to Michael and I will castrate you.”

“Ouch, Cassie! I’m wounded. How could you ever think I would do something as low as tell our dearest older brother that you regularly sleep on the same couch as your best friend whom you totally don’t have a crush on?” Gabriel laughed and jumped out of the way of the swinging blue bookbag that belonged to a red faced Castiel.

“Have I ever mentioned how much I despise you?”

“Come on, lil’ Bro, let’s go get dinner with the fam.”

Castiel deflated and nodded quietly, shifting the pack to his shoulder and heading back towards the Novak house, Gabriel and “Rex” in tow.

By the time Sam wandered home, Dean was sulking on the couch and eating leftover macaroni, and the youngest Winchester slipped away into his room, adamant on finishing his book before dawn.

****************************

The third time they met, it was Castiel’s fault again.

He had gone home early, having gotten the flu or something, and Dean couldn’t wait to go check on him, so he and Sam went straight from school to the Novak residence.

Not in love his ass.

And well, Sam wasn’t just going to sit in the impala while Dean checked on and fretted over his not-boyfriend, so he went inside too.

The house was quiet – save for Dean hollering “Cas? I’m comin’ up to your room – Sammy, you wait here.” and the slight echo the was associated with it – when they entered, and Sam idly sat down on a smooth leather couch in what looked to be the living room. He’d never spent much time in the Novak’s house, since Dean was the only one who ever had much of a reason to come (for his not-boyfriend, of course), but it seemed fairly nice.

It was a little freakishly clean, as if no one spent very much time in here. A stray beer bottle on a table was the only mess in the whole room: no dust, no plates, not even a single remote out of place. Maybe Castiel wasn’t the only brother to tend to leave the house frequently?

“So we meet again, Sam-I-am?”

He jumped, blinking rapidly and turning around.

Gabe stood behind the couch, eyebrows raised in the cockiest manner Sam had ever seen. His shirt was fluorescent pink today, too big and drooping over one shoulder, obscenely bright and bordering offensive on the eyes.

It took a second before he managed to respond, Gabriel throwing him off kilter before they’d even managed to start a conversation – and when he did, his tone was a bit incredulous: “Sam-I-am?”

“Sam you are!” Gabriel replied, snickering to himself and winking. “Glad we covered that you know your name.”

“Are you – what?”

The boy laughed, clicking his tongue and slipping around the couch, perching on the armrest. “So I’m assumin’ you got dragged along with the lover boy?” He asked, waggling his eyebrows and leaning against the back of the couch. His pants were just as offensively tight and bright and, if Sam were honest, distracting – but he wasn’t, not right then, and he forced his eyes back up to Gabriel’s.

Which were nearly gold.

What the actual fuck.

“Do really nice eyes run in the family?” Sam blurted, jaw dropping a little bit. Castiel had the bluest eyes of anyone in the whole universe – and now his older brother’s eyes were gold? Holy genetic unfairness.

Gabriel blinked at him for a moment, head tilting to the left (Cas did that too, he noticed – another family trait?) for a second before, finally, a slight laugh bubbled out of his throat. “Well, considering that, I’m gunna’ say yes. Do you like my eyes, Sammy boy?”

Red hot embarrassment suddenly swept over him, and he could feel his cheeks flaring up with heat. “Well, uh, I mean – I guess. Yeah.” Fuck, this was awkward, and the gold eyes were just dancing with amusement now, weren’t they? That made them prettier, actually, shit, fuck, uh –“I mean, I’ve just never seen golden eyes before? So it’s kinda’ surprising –“

He finally stopped talking when Gabriel laughed, loud and clear, the sound echoing in the empty room. “Gotcha’, kiddo’. Don’t strain yourself.”

A quick gulp of air, another rush of heat to his face – “Uh, well –“

“Sammy?”

He stiffened, turning his gaze to the top of the stairs where Dean stood, looking a mix of confused and concerned.

“Uh –“ Sam coughed, awkwardly looking away from either boy in the room, “Yeah?”

Dean’s face contorted into a question, gaze shifting between Gabriel and Sam, before he finally spoke, hand rubbing at the back of his neck. “Well, uh – Cas is still feelin’ kinda’ down, so I was gunna’ run home and get some soup to make him. I figured I’d drop you off?” It started with a question, as if Dean hadn’t already decided that that was what he was going to do (and he would, because taking care of Cas was the only thing he’d be thinking of unless Sam himself got sick too), and finished with a wink: “Unless, that is, you’re having some fun with Gabe here.”

“Oh, I’m having a ball with your lil’ brother here, Dean-“

“No, I think I wanna’ head home,” Sam muttered, leaping off of the couch as if it burned him and heading over towards the door.

“Talking about how pretty my eyes are~”

“We should really go, Dean!”

“And all sorts of fun stuff!”

Sam’s face was twitching and red by the time Dean was down the stairs, snickering under his breath. “Yeah, alright, Gabe. Cut the kid a break. I’ll be back in like, 20 minutes max, okay? Cas knows, so –“

“I swear my brother isn’t gunna’ die the second you leave him, Dean.”

“Right,”He muttered, his own face flushing, “But, uh, I’ll be right back, okay? Make sure he-“

“Dean.”

“Right, uh, yeah – let’s go, Sammy.”

Both Winchesters were soon out the door, Sam sliding into the passenger’s seat of the impala and Dena cursing under his breath and Gabe winking from the still open door.

****************************

The fourth time Sam met Gabriel, he had come to pick Cas up from his most recent sleepover with Dean.

It was 11 in the morning and Cas was still sleeping on top of Dean, both curled up on the couch with tangled limbs and easy holds on each other. It was adorable, honestly; he’d already taken a picture and printed it out to tape to Dean’s door for his brother to see later, to see how peaceful they both looked. Dean would probably try to insist that it was nothing, that it had happened in their sleep – but Sam knew better than that, and would just grin and wink and leave.

It was a perfect plan to make that Sunday entertaining and memorable; Dean’s flushed reactions to any mention of how close he and Castiel were always entertaining.

The knocks to the front door were too loud, and Sam rushed over to the door and forced it open before either teen sleeping on the couch could wake up –

Only to get hit by the knocking fist, smacking into his upper chest.

A singular long blink later, Sam’s eyes slid down to meet bright, confused golden ones.

“Uh?”

“They’re sleeping. I didn’t want you to wake them up.”

“Still?”

Sam nodded, quick and brief, stepping out of the doorway and gesturing for Gabe to come in. “They passed out on the couch together again. Probably watched the tv until really early in the morning and passed out together. That happens most of the time Cas sleeps over.” He explained, giving Gabriel a sheepish grin. He looked more docile today – tight pants, sure, but his shirt was white and covered with green exclamation points and the pants were plain, so he wasn’t as visually offensive as normal. “Does he need to be home like, right now?”

“Uhhhhhh,” Gabriel started, blinking slowly at Sam’s figure. “Well, yeah, but I’d be happy to stay around a lil’ while longer if it means you stay dressed like that.”

At Gabriel’s low, long whistle, Sam finally looked down in confusion.

“Oh.”

“Hey, I mean – I ain’t complainin’ kiddo’, buuuuuut-“

“Uh, I’ll go get a shirt-“

“No, really, I insist you don’t!”

Sam’s face was already a brilliant red, his hand moving up to rub at the back of his head. He’d forgotten it was so early and that – well, he’d only showered a bit ago, and Cas and Dean had both seen him shirtless, so it didn’t seem like such a big deal at the time. The sweatpants he’s chosen were only a bit too big, anyways; the sweatpants hung low on his hips but still sat at a slightly respectable level, right?

Gabriel’s look of slight awe and obvious enjoyment really spoke otherwise, but Sam didn’t want to think about that.

“Look – I’m gunna’ go get dressed, you can just get Cas and Dean up, okay? I mean, I don’t feel like having Cas tear my throat out for being the one to make him move anyways, so you can just- yeah. Yeah, okay. Bye.”

The low whistle that followed Sam up the stairs was studiously ignored, and by the time Sam came out from being holed up in room, dying of embarrassment, Gabriel had already gathered up his little brother and left.

The only highlight of that day was the indignant screams Dean gave when he finally saw the picture of he and Cas cuddling, the flushed cheeks giving a better answer than words ever could.

(They were so, totally in love.)

****************************

The fifth time they met, Sam was back at the park.

He had settled against his tree again, History textbook settled on his denim covered legs. It was cold out now, November having settled in with a chilly overcast. Sam had stolen Dean’s knit cap (actually, it might have been Castiel’s, but it was hard to tell ever since Cas started giving Dean his scarves and hats and Dean had been giving Cas his jackets and undershirts and god they were so fucking gay) and put on one of Dad’s old sweaters, determined to study outside, away from the house.

Dean hadn’t even been acting up – it was just too stuffy there, with the faint sounds of Dean skyping with Cas and Dad blasting some stupid football game, focusing was nearly impossible.

So instead, he’d elected to freeze his ass off in the park, trying to study World War 2 and hating every second of it.

At least, that was the plan – until a ball smacked him in the face, and a small, enthusiastic corgi ran up to get it.

“Aw, shit, Rex, where’d you – Sam?”

He blinked at the dog that was now on top of his textbook, wagging its tail and panting loudly. “Uh?”

A quick glance up revealed who he already knew it to be – Gabriel, looking for all his part shocked and a little bit embarrassed. He had an atrocious sweater on, covered in colorful hearts and knit with thick wool and paired with pinstriped jeans.

Another fashion disaster, it seemed.

“Um, Sam, meet my dog? This is Rex. I dunno’ if Cas ever mentioned him –“

“Yeah, he said you had a dog. Once.” Sam muttered, biting his lip and looking down at the pleased animal in his lap. One hand moved up to pet it, white with the air’s chill and slowly rubbing the animal. “Is he a corgi?”

Gabriel crouched down then, nodding and staring at Sam. “Yeah. You like dogs or somethin’?”

He nodded, a short laugh coming out before he could think about it. “I’ve always wanted one, but Dad doesn’t. I figure I’ll get one whenever I move out – a big dog, though. Not some tiny little thing like this.”Smiling, he quietly scratched at the dog in his lap, chuckling when Rex whined happily.

“Oh.”

A quick glance up showed Gabriel pink cheeked, for some asinine reason, and awkwardly staring off at the rest of the park. “Y’know, if you want – you could play. Actually, you should.” He muttered, nodding to himself and standing up. “Put that text book away and get your ass up, Sammy, you’re playing ball.”

Blinking, his eyebrows furrowed as he stared at Gabriel. He hardly even knew this guy – he didn’t know how old he was, why he wasn’t away at college, why he was staring off into the distance with red cheeks even though it wasn’t quite that cold. This was stupid, doing anything but studying was at least a little bit stupid, wasn’t it? He’d left the house so he could work in peace, not play fetch with Castiel’s older brother’s dog.

And maybe that was half of the reason he picked Rex up and slid his book off his legs, standing and giving Gabriel a half-assed grin.

“If you say it like that, how can I refuse?”

And fuck, he was going to fail his History test tomorrow, but the bright smile he got from Gabriel was worth it.

****************************

(The lecture he got from Dean for coming home after dark wasn’t particularly pleasant, but Cas was still on skype, and that was enough to get Dean to head back to his room with a muttered “tell me next time, okay?”.)

****************************

The sixth time they met, it was brief, just a fleeting wave at the grocery store while Dean picked out decent fruits for a pie – Cas had bet Dean couldn’t bake, and Dean was stupid enough to think Cas wasn’t only doing this to get free pie – and Sam had been dragged along, looking at the vegetables and deciding what he was going to ask Dean to grab for dinner.

They only held eye contact for a second before Gabriel’s cheeks flushed a little bit and waved before disappearing down the candy aisle, and Sam didn’t see him again even as Dean checked out with some lettuce and carrots in addition to the perfect apples for baking.

The drive home left Sam wondering if maybe, just maybe, the pink on Gabriel’s cheeks was a figment of his imagination.

****************************

The seventh time, Sam was getting help from Castiel with his Latin 1 homework and was the only Winchester in the Novak house for once.

“What units are on your test?” Castiel asked, flipping through Sam’s notebook and sinking into his own couch, focused and staring at the carefully taken notes as if they were the only important thing in the room.

(Perhaps they were, since Cas was almost guaranteed to be able to persuade Dean into staying over, or letting him come over, when Sam’s brother came to pick him up.)

Sam sighed, shifting awkwardly and thumbing the cover of his textbook.“3 through 5. I know most of it – but the pronunciation’s throwing me off. I missed the one day we reviewed when I got sick.”

“Right.”

“You got sick?”

Both teens turned around, Castiel blinking and Sam gaping just a little bit.

“Gabriel, where is your shirt?”

“Laundry day, lil’ bro.”

“…For all of them?”

“I might have put doing my laundry off for a little bit longer than I should’ve, sooooo -”

“You literally ran out of shirts.”

Gabriel grinned, giving a sheepish shrug and winking at Sam. “Like what you see, Sammy?”

“I, uh –“

“Sam, you might want to shut your mouth before you actually drool. It’s rather unbecoming.”

Castiel’s grin was positively wicked, and Sam had a sinking feeling that Dean was going to hear all about this; perhaps he had messed with Cas a few too many times, between pictures and well timed interruptions on movie nights with Dean.

If the malicious glint in his eyes was any indication, he had.

With reddening cheeks, Sam’s mouth clicked shut, and he averted his gaze to the floor. “Yeah. Right. Thanks, Cas.”

Castiel smiled, every part as scheming as Gabriel had looked the first time he got the bucket of water all over Sam – and when he spoke, Gabriel laughed: “Now, how about we return to Latin? As appealing as you may find my brother, we have other things to focus on.”

Mutely nodding, Sam bit his lip and stared at his textbook, listening to Gabriel bound back up the stairs.

“Now, you said units 3 through 5?”

****************************

The eighth time they met, it was back at the park.

It was December now, and the air was frigid and far too cold to be studying outside, but taking a walk was very refreshing.

Especially when Dean and Cas had finally admitted that yes, they fucking loved each other, and Sam had come home to Doctor Who on the television and Cas’ tongue down Dean’s throat, both tangled up on the couch like they always had been; the only addition being kissing and the occasional groping. It was more than any sane little brother could take, and Sam was very eager to escape the love-fest whenever he could.

As happy as he was for his brother, he really didn’t need to see that much of his relationship unfolding in the living room he had to use too.

When he entered the old place, now coated in a thin layer of frost, he already anticipated the dog that ran up to him being a small corgi, happy and carrying a ball in its mouth.

“Hey, Rex.” He muttered, grinning and bending down, a gloved hand ruffling the dog’s fur. “Been awhile, huh? Bet your owner’s gunna’ be here soon, all worried and flustered because you always seem to run to me.”

A small grin lit up his face, and a warm chuckle bubbled past his throat when he heard Gabriel’s voice cut through the chilled air.

“Rex?! Where’d ya’ go, boy?!”

“Try the trees!” Sam called, laughing and picking the small corgi up. Rex wiggled around happily in his arms, shifting and licking at flushed cheeks.

Footsteps crunched in the frosted grass, and Gabriel appeared into view, dressed as brightly as possible and cheeks a pretty red. He was panting, out of breath and unzipping a too-large hoodie (which revealed a thin t-shirt that clung to him in the best of ways) and staring at Sam.

“Wh – why do I always find you with my dog?” He asked, huffing an amused snort and grinning.

“He likes me, obviously.”

“He’s got good taste.”

Sam laughed, shrugging helplessly and setting Rex down on the ground, gloved hand taking the ball out of the dog’s mouth and tossing it out to the park.

Both boys watched Rex take off, tan coat disappearing into the mess of trees and field that made up the local park. They could hear distant panting as the dog chased the ball, and Sam stood up slowly, hands cold in his pockets.

They were both silent for a minute, staring off into the dark night, before Gabriel finally spoke.

“So, you come here often?”

Blinking rapidly, Sam gave the shortest laugh he had in awhile, finding himself grinning like a moron and Gabriel’s overly extravagant wink.

“Often enough to run into you and your dog sometimes.”

“Often enough for me, then!”

Grinning and shuffling, Sam nodded and stared at the blonde in front of him. “Why’re you even still here?”

Gabriel’s expression fell instantly, and Sam winced and shifted his focus to the ground. “I- I’m sorry, shit, that was –“

“No, it’s – it’s fine. I figured you’d ask eventually.”

“Well, yeah, but that doesn’t mean I need to know, if it uh, bugs you or anything.”

“Seriously, it’s fine! I just work at home. Y’know, not really ready for college life yet.” He muttered, kicking at the ground and shrugging. “M’not sure what I wanna’ do yet. I was thinking culinary school, but dad’s not too keen on it. I make a mean cake though, gotta’ say. You should try it sometime.”

He nodded, quiet. “Yeah, that’d be cool.”

A blink.

Gold eyes brightening in hope.

“Wait, you don’t – you don’t care?”

“No – I mean, if you’re not ready, it’s better to not waste any money on education you won’t use, right? So you’re better to just wait around for a year before doing anything.”

Gabriel looked shell-shocked, eyes wide and mouth just barely parted.

“You’re really somethin’, you know that?”

“Wh –“ His cheeks flushed, and Sam laughed awkwardly, “Not really, Gabriel.”

“Gabe. Call me Gabe.”

Every breath was visible in the cold night air, and it was nearly dark, stars coming out and twinkling in the dwindling light. He needed to get home, before Dean noticed that he wasn’t back or Cas finally got off of the couch, or maybe even before Dad got home from Bobby’s.

Instead, Sam nodded, grinning to himself and laughing when Rex finally bounded back, ball stuck in his mouth.

“Yeah, I guess I can do that.”

****************************

Nobody noticed that Sam didn’t get home until 8, though Dean gave a questioning glance and Castiel blinked at Sam’s stupid, stupid grin.

Maybe he’d get a corgi instead of a big dog, when he was older.

****************************

The ninth time they met, Sam was lazing around the house again, and Gabriel had come to pick Castiel up.

When he answered the door this time, he made sure he was wearing a shirt.

“They’re still sleeping on the couch, you know.”

“Awww, come on! I waited until noon. I swear, it’s not fair – I get called the lazy brother, but I have to pick up Cassie, who slept in ‘til noon, in the freezing cold. Really. How is that fair? It’s not.”

Sam snickered, rolling his eyes and opening the door the rest of the way, letting Gabriel step in and kick off his boots. Today’s sweater was covered in puppies, tans and browns and blacks making repeated little dogs in a borderline atrocious pattern. It was cute, even when paired with bright yellow skinny jeans and blue socks and a stupid, bright green hat.

People that were 19 (he’d gotten the age from Cas, and well, it was only 4 years older than him, right?) had no right to be so adorable and red-cheeked, had no right to wear too big sweaters and tight pants and a hat with a puff on top.

“I’ll get him up, this time.”

“You’ll suffer the malice of Cassie when first woken?” Gabe asked, eyes bright and mischievous and grin slightly affectionate. “You’re a brave one, Sammykins.”

“Call me that again, and you can get him up yourself.”

A low snicker was all the response he got, and Sam sighed when he went to get Castiel up.

Dean was annoyed and Cas looked ready to murder, but the youngest Novak brother was turned over to the right sibling, and Gabe winked as he left.

****************************

The tenth time they met, Gabe had gotten Sam’s number from Cas and texted him to meet at the park where Sam had first thought that he was cute.

Jogging up to the opening, Sam gave a quick wave to the little bit of blonde hair he could see under the turtleneck sweater and hat.

“Hey, Gabe.”

“Sam!”

The older teen turned his full attention to Sam then, gold eyes sparkling bright and the pink cheeks getting just the slightest bit pinker when he grinned.

“I wasn’t too sure you’d come, since it’s-“

“Cold as fuck out?”

He laughed, awkwardly rubbing at the back of his neck. “Uh, yeah. That. It is kinda’ cold, isn’t it?”

“Gabe, it’s almost snowing.”

“Yeah. I guess it is.”

They both laughed then, both completely awkward, and Sam blinked when Gabriel stepped forward, just a little bit closer.

“You didn’t bring Rex?”

“No, uh – I wanted to maybe be alone with you?”

A blink.

“Aw, fuck, I’m sorry, that was – that was awkward, wasn’t it? Shit, I haven’t done this since I was in high school, fuck-“

“Done what?”

“Fucking – shit, this.”

There was hardly a second for Sam to think or even process what that meant before Gabe was on his tip-toes and pressing frigid lips to Sam’s.

Sam froze, going perfectly still until Gabriel stumbled back.

“Uh, I- fuck, fuck, sorry, I don’t know why I did that, I just-“

“You kissed me.”

“Yeah, yeah, I did, didn’t I? And totally fucked up while doing so, shit, wow,“

“You kissed me!”

“I’m glad we’ve established that!”

A quick breath forced out of his throat and, with bright pink cheeks, Sam shuffled his feet awkwardly.

“Look, I’ll just – I’ll just go, I mean,”

“No, stay!”

Gabriel looked up then, face a beautiful red and eyes shifting from tree to tree; anywhere but Sam’s eyes. He looked adorable, again, with too bright colors and heavy knit wool sweater and hat, a singular bit of blonde hair falling out of the front of his hat.

And on one of the strangest impulses of his life, Sam Winchester leaned down and pressed his lips to Gabriel Novak’s.

****************************

After that, Sam didn’t really count the times he saw Gabriel.

He was everywhere – weekly visits, invites to test Gabriel’s newest invention (it turned out that he did make a mean cake, a mean everything else; Sam was going to gain weight if he wasn’t careful, with how much Gabe spoiled him with baked goods), little things that would show up on his doorstep.

****************************

After the hundredth visit, Sam didn’t know how many times he’d seen Gabriel, but it didn’t really matter. Everything was happier now – Gabe had signed up for college and would start in the fall, and Dean and Cas were happy and joined at the hip like they always had been.

Sam was always with Gabe.

Maybe, just maybe, Sam Winchester was finally in love.


End file.
